Hong Kong Legislature Criticized

December 22, 1996|By New York Times News Service.

HONG KONG — China established a new legislature for Hong Kong on Saturday, ignoring strong protests from Britain that the proceedings were stage-managed and violated agreements on the colony's coming transition to Chinese rule.

A 400-member committee, carefully chosen by Beijing from Hong Kong's business and political elite, selected 60 members for the new legislature, which will replace the existing Legislative Council on July 1, when China resumes control over the territory.

Hong Kong's Democratic Party boycotted the proceedings and held street protests.

The selection process was held not in Hong Kong, but in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, just across the border, well insulated from demonstrations. Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen presided over the proceedings in a hall shrouded by thick red curtains and the five-star emblem of the Communist Party. Qian described the choices of the selection committee as "just, fair, open and based on democratic principles." Ten days ago, the same committee chose Tung Chee-hwa, 59, as Hong Kong's chief executive.

On Saturday most of the 130 candidates listed on the ballot were themselves members of the selection committee. To outsiders that may have looked like a conflict of interest, but it was no big surprise here, since Beijing wants the same set of carefully screened people to chose Hong Kong's new government and to run it.

The new lawmaking body resembles the docile, non-confrontational group that the British-selected Legislative Council was for decades until 1995, when Gov. Christopher Patten started democratic reform by opening some seats to democratic election.

"Over a million people in Hong Kong voted for the present Legislative Council," Patten said, "and up over the border now, 400 people--400 people--are voting. Four hundred people voting for one another. This procedure was stomach-turning."

Among Saturday's winners were 10 former members of the British-selected Legislative Council who were rejected by voters in the election in 1995 but have since successfully shifted their allegiance from London to Beijing.

One of them was Cheng Kai-nam, who was so upset that his pro-China party was defeated in 1995 that he said in an interview broadcast on the radio, "Hong Kong people will pay for this."